People watch but don't click. Now what?

The problem

The video is good. People say so in the comments. Most of them watch to the end, and the creator is getting follows off it. And almost nobody taps the product.

The brand sees a video everyone likes and a product nobody buys, and wants to know whose fault that is.

A tap is a small decision, and people only make it when the video gives them a reason at the moment the product is on screen. When retention is healthy and CTR is not, the leak is not the hook and it is not the product page. It is the stretch between “here is the thing” and “go get it,” and usually that stretch is missing altogether.

The example

Same creator, same product, before and after one change to the script.

Nothing changed except two sentences. Retention barely moved. CTR went up five times and sales followed, because the people who tapped had already decided they liked the product. They only needed to be pointed at the cart.

Three ways to raise CTR without touching the hook, in the order to try them:

• Name the button out loud and say which product it is.
• Show the product in the creator’s hand when the ask happens, not in a cutaway.
• Put the ask right after the proof, not at the very end when a third of people have already left.

Do this in Verdict

1. 1
   Open the Leak Finder and pick the video. Look for the shape above: everything green, Click red.
2. 2
   The report pane names Click as the leak and lists the ask-related fixes first.
3. 3
   Send the creator the Click line and the first fix, nothing else. Send the whole report and she will remake the hook, which is the one part that was working.